New Aging with Matthias Hollwich and Wojtek J. Chodzko-Zajko September 15, 2016

Architect Matthias Hollwich, co-founder and principal of Hollwich Kushner, and Wojtek Jan Chodzko-Zajko, Ph.D., Head of the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will lecture on Thursday, September 15, as part of MAS Context’s 2016 Fall Talks series. The lecture is organized in collaboration with the Society of Architectural Historians and will take place at the International Museum of Surgical Science (1524 N Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60610).

New Aging

This event will explore the topic of aging with presentations and a conversation between Matthias Hollwich, author of the book New Aging, and Wojtek Jan Chodzko-Zajko whose primary research interests are in the area of aging and health. For the past twenty-five years, Chodzko-Zajko has focused on the effect of exercise and physical activity on health and quality of life in old age.

In New Aging, Matthias Hollwich outlines smart, simple ideas to help us experience aging as a gift that we receive with life. New Aging invites us to take everything we associate with aging—the loss of freedom and vitality, the cold and sterile nursing homes, the boredom—and throw it out the window. As an architect, Hollwich is devoted to finding ways in which we can shape our living spaces and communities to make aging a graceful and fulfilling aspect of our lives. He began his research into aging as part of a collaboration between HWKN, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Bauhaus Foundation Dessau. Now he has distilled his research into a collection of simple, visionary principles that will inspire us to think creatively about how we can change our habits and environments to suit our evolving needs as we age. The book New Aging has been designed by Bruce Mau Design and published by Penguin Random House. You can find more information about the book at new-aging.com.

MAS Context is supported by a grant by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and by private donations. For information about how to support MAS Context, please visit: www.mascontext.com/support

Matthias Hollwich is the co-founding principal of progressive New York architecture firm Hollwich Kushner (HWKN) and Architizer, the largest platform for architecture online. Having previously led design teams within internationally acclaimed firms such as Rem Koolhaas’ Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), Eisenman Architects, and Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Matthias has established himself at the forefront of a new generation of ground-and rule-breaking international architects. Combining his understanding of how architecture and cities can perform better with his research as a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Matthias has developed a new line of thinking about how to make aging an empowering process. He has since shared this message at events for TEDx, PICNIC, the World Health Organization, and the New Aging conference at University of Pennsylvania.www.hwkn.com | @HWKN_arch | @hollwich

Wojtek Jan Chodzko-Zajko, Ph.D. earned a bachelors degree in Exercise Science from the University of London and a Ph.D. degree from Purdue University, also in Exercise Science. Chodzko-Zajkoâ€™s primary research interests are in the area of aging and health. For the past twenty-five years he has focused on the effect of exercise and physical activity on health and quality of life in old age. Chodzko-Zajko is the Shahid and Ann Carlson Khan Professor in Applied Health Sciences and Head of the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.http://labs.kch.illinois.edu/Faculty/Bios/ChodzkoZajko.aspx